Esterina the Vampire Slayer
by esterinathevampireslayer
Summary: a young woman from Barcelona finds her life is thrown into turmoil when she is called as a slayer after the disappearance of her sister. [Post Season 7 plot]
1. Chapter 1

Esterina – Chapter One

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. – 2008

Esterina Maria Saenz i Creus.

Beautiful Barcelona should have been in the height of a fiesta that night. The moon's full beam lit the city as brightly as the ominous street lamps which lined the path which Noralí had just taken.

The Brunette skipped quickly ahead of me as I followed close behind, walking at a brisk pace with the thin material of my cardigan wrapped tightly around my shoulders. I cursed under my breath which fogged in front of me in the cold night air.

Noralí cackled as she sped on ahead of me. The sound of her flip flops clacking against the cobbled pavement and the bare skin of her heel echoed as she took a diversion through a pedestrian tunnel situated below the city's metro line.

"Noralí!" I called after her, unwilling to follow her any further. Our Father would undoubtedly be mad at us for staying out so late and he was not the sort of man to be messed with.

My ankles burnt from the friction caused by my new boots and I sunk to the floor and sat upon the cobbles close to the middle of the tunnel. Noralí had paused too at the end of the tunnel. A tall, olive-skinned and bearded young man of no more than 20 years of age had her engaged in conversation. I watched them for a moment in my perpetual vision as I removed my boots and rubbed at the skin which had peeled back to reveal a bloody mess where the blisters had burst open on both heels.

A low, feral growl echoed around the tunnel and I scrambled to my feet as the sound of Noralí' scream surrounded me. I found my feet only to be knocked down again; not by the force of a blow, but by a searing pain at the back of my head. My vision became clouded and I slipped into a dream-like state.

The raven-haired woman ran along the street, being pursued by a cloaked man. From beneath her own cloak the maiden withdrew a silver hilted sword and held the weapon up to the sky. The dim moonlight caught the blade of the sword and reflected upon the stranger's features. The cloaked figure's grotesque features were revealed by the maiden with a quick flick of her sword which drew a thin line of blood from their cheek. The once-cloaked figure's eyes were deep set and yellow, they reminded Esterina of one of the stray neighbourhood cats that her Mother used to tend to. In one swift movement the beast reached out and clasped one of his large hands around the maiden's neck. He pressed the girl's back against his chest as he held her above ground, the tips of her toes brushing against the cold stone below. His grip on her neck never slackened as he lifted his head to the sky, mouth open, poised as if he were about to bite. His incisors were elongated, longer than any teeth that Esterina had ever seen, if she had to describe them, she'd call them fangs. He lifted the woman higher as she squirmed in his arms, protesting his hold on her. Her fingers came up to around his wrist. Her knuckles turned white as her gripped tightened, the beast's mouth clamped down on the tender flesh of her neck. Esterina heard the unmistakeably sound of piercing flesh as if it were in her own ears. The girl's hand fell limp by her side as she slumped in the beast's hold as he drained her.

When I came round I knew two things; that girl had been real and that girl was dead.

My head snapped up as she remembered what I had heard before she had slipped into the vision, the scream.

"Noralí!" I cried as I ran barefoot to the mouth of the tunnel where I had seen my sister with the dark figure.

Finding neither I pivoted on the spot and slammed my fist into the bricked wall of the tunnel. I sprung backwards in surprise as 4 of the bricks crumbled to my feet in front of me. The somewhat structure had somehow been broken by the force of my fist meeting it.

Feeling cold, lost and confused I hurried to a local convent where I had found solace on more than one occasion when my Father had come home drunk and beaten both myself and Noralí. Sister Maria Olaya was a kind woman of around 50 and had become somewhat of a surrogate mother to me.

Her warm smile was what greeted me when the convent door was flung open."Esterina! Preciosa" she said, stepping aside so that I could walk through the door into the safety and warmth of the convent.

"I wasn't expecting you tonight" she continued, leading me along the hallway into her office at the end of it. "I would offer you a bed but all of them are taken tonight, we have a group staying with us".

"A group?" I asked perplexed.

"Sí" she poured me a glass of whisky before pressing a finger to her thin, wrinkled lips and continuing her story, "just for clarification before you meet them, I do not sympathise with nor condone their witchcraft".

As she had spoken an orange-yellow ball of a plasma-like light flew through the door and hit me square in the chest. I had to grip the sides of my chair to stay within it and not topple over backwards. Several members of the group – I presumed since I knew every member of the convent- ran into the room, pointing and whispering between them.

"We've found another one, Donna!" one of them called. Before long another woman joined the group crowded around me and asked them to step aside so that she could examine me.

"Excellent, she is much needed. Buffy has 10 times our number in her Italian squad" the woman seemed ticked irritable and towered over me by at least 4 inches.

"Could you explain what that yellow thing was, and what I am being recruited for?" I asked solemnly. I needed to find Noralí and as far as I was concerned, they were wasting my time.


	2. Chapter 2

Esterina – Chapter Two

The convent was enveloped by incessant chatter for the rest of the night. It had been explained to me that – through experiencing extreme trauma, that of both my Father's physical abuse and the disappearance of my Sister – that I had been called as a Slayer, a type of warrior I was told.

It is my duty along with the other Slayers to fight the violent demonic beasts which walk the earth, just like the cloaked murderer of the girl in my vision.

There used to be only one girl in the entire world at a time that had the power to stand against the forces of darkness. Now there were thousands of us, spread across the globe. Donna, the Barcelona squad leader said that although there are thousands of us now, every individual is special. Donna herself is a remarkable Slayer, having learnt how to manipulate the occult to heighten her abilities.

I however, was 16 at the time of my calling, skinny and about as un-warrior like as you can possibly get.

A few days passed and I became extremely agitated as Noralí had not been found. Sister Maria had called around to my house to explain my sudden disappearance to my drunkard Father. He didn't care that I had joined the convent – Sister Maria's cunning way of explaining my absence- he cared even less that his oldest daughter was nowhere to be found.

I heard in passing that she'd been spotted two nights ago with a man who matched my description of the one she'd been talking to the night of her disappearance. One of the Sisters swore that the man was Alucio Cavazos - the son of a wealthy shop keeper- and that he had turned up dead a few years ago, his cause of death had never been investigated. I was starting to understand.

"It's time for you to start your training Esterina. There's someone that I want you to meet..." Donna pulled me aside from the group and led me down the grey, dimly lit passage which led to her makeshift office. "This is Iker Velez" she said, introducing me to the man before me. He towered over me at around 6" in height, his hair and eyes were both a dark chocolate brown and he bore a brooding expression. "He's a Watcher and will help with your training, the non-combat expertise as I like to call it" Donna joked.

"It's nice to meet you" I said politely as I held my hand out to the stranger. He looked perplexed but took my hand any way, shaking it gently within the firm grip of his calloused hands.

"Likewise Esterina" he replied with faint amusement.

I knew that I wouldn't be paying much attention to training with him around.


	3. Chapter 3

Esterina – Chapter Three

Iker was indeed as knowledgeable as Donna had insisted. He told me about England, where he was trained by a man named Andrew. I couldn't help but laugh at Iker's description of him.

I asked about the other Slayer's of course, I was under no illusion that my squad was the only one. The world is full of monsters, right? "There are 10 squads including ours Esterina, spread across the world, the largest is in Italy".

"Are there slayers out there that aren't members?" I asked intrigued. Noralí had always been the strong one. She would have made a much better Slayer than me.

"There are around 1,300 out there who either opted not to join or just haven't been found yet. You were lucky to have been discovered so soon". Iker was sat in the convent's vast library with me; a few dusty volumes were open in front of us. I was making notes in a special new diary of mine, to be both a journal and a slayer handbook. A few of the other girls openly complained about the non-combat side of our training but I found it fascinating and began to spend more and more time with Iker.

As a person and not just a watcher he was fascinating. He was orphaned at the age of 14 when a renowned Vampire named Morfeo murdered his mother. Iker claims not to be interested in revenge but he let it slip to me that Morfeo was somewhere here in the city, presumably underground. Thinking about that brought me back to Noralí, I wondered if she too was sleeping underground.

I trained with Donna and the other girls daily. I was paired with a girl named Medea, at 18 she was two years older than me and had been a slayer for a year. Her father was an Andalucían butcher and she spoke fondly of him and her childhood in Seville. I couldn't bring myself to speak of my own upbringing in any great detail; I left out a lot but mentioned Noralí.

"Oh that's so sad! I hope that we find her when were out on patrol" Medea gushed. She was clearly sympathetic but she lacked **real **sympathy.

The night of my first patrol was upon us and we'd been divided into groups. The group leaders were Donna, Iker, another Watcher named Paulo, a Wicca named Edelina and one of the oldest girls, Valencia. Our groups were labelled A-E for easy identification and there were now 51 young slayers in our squad including Valencia and every last one of us was riled up for the mission. I hoped to find Alucio and have him return my sister to me alive and well, or to aid Iker in the destruction of Morfeo.

I celebrated silently when both Medea and I were split into Iker's group together. Donna did a roll call of the other groups and I finally put names to the faces of all of the girls. [see group listings]

Donna had found a nest of vampires just south of the city and was keen to take her group there. Iker said that we'd be in our groups for the long run as they'd been carefully selected. We were moving on from the convent in a few days, I'd be sad to say goodbye to Sister Maria, although I knew that I would be able to visit her. I wasn't leaving the city. I didn't totally love my group either, I loved that I was with Medea and Iker but there was a girl named Aracelia Murillo that I despised with a passion also in our group. There was something about the way that she craved attention that irked me; I wish I could drive a stake through **her **heart.

Donna's group were going to take out the nest tonight and my group planned to cover the northern territories' graveyards, there were 3 to be exact. Paulo and Edelina agreed to take east and west with Valencia having to take the south with had by far the most areas to cover including 5 graveyards and a particularly seedy vampire dive bar.

We split off into our groups and wished the others good luck. There were few goodbyes.

"I'm going to miss the convent" Iker said, echoing my earlier thoughts as he led the group out, "It's a good base, good company, good food and people to nurse the injured".

I had to agree there, Sister Maria had tended to many of Noralí and I's cuts and scrapes over the years.

It wasn't a long walk to the northern territory and we were there in no time. Iker seemed anxious. "Let's not take too long girls" he urges as he split us yet again. Medea and I stayed together along with Sixta and Doyel and were sent to patrol one of the graveyards. The rest would cover the other two and Iker would split his time between the three groups. I was afraid. It was pitch black out and although I'm not usually scared of the dark and my senses felt sharp, the dark still felt ominous.

The gate screeched as I forced it open with a swift kick. I pulled a stake out from my pocket and held it in a firm yet clammy grip. I was central with the other girls on either flank as we swept through the graveyard.

"I'm not feeling too good..." Doyel muttered before clamping a hand over her mouth.

"She's going to hurl!" shouted Medea. I elbowed her in the ribs and brought a finder up to my lips to silence her.

"Be quiet, we don't want to ruin the element of surprise" I urged. By then Doyel had sunk to her knees, resting her back against the stone wall of a mausoleum.

"Go on without me" she insisted.

I would have protested but I was agitated. Sixta shrugged and Medea headed off away from us to patrol. Sixta agreed to stay relatively close to Doyel to keep an eye on her and I found myself on an upper level surrounded by silent mausoleums. I looked for fresh graves and found only one, the earth piled high on either side with a hole punched through the centre of the coffin it housed. The inhabitant was nowhere to be found but I doubled back on myself anyway.

Half way back to the gate I found what I was looking for, a newly sired vampire was clambering out of his own grave. I had to get him quickly while he was still disorientated and his eyes were clouded by dirt. With a swift jab of my arm I sunk my stake into his heart and watched as he exploded into ash. My first vampire kill. I admired the way they died; it was blunt and sort of beautiful the way that they exploded leaving no trace. Imagine having to explain the bodies...

"Nice work" chimed an unfamiliar voice.

I pivoted with my stake poised ready to strike. He was tall, easily 6ft and was leaning against the wall of the graveyard. His skin had a sallow glow to its olive tone and he had dark features like Iker – common among Hispanic men- but unlike Iker his eyes were almost black instead of warm chocolate. His presence gave my stomach an uneasy feeling. Unlike Iker's butterflies these were bats, huge swooping ones.

"That...uh...it wasn't what it looked like" I stuttered.

"So you didn't just slay a vampire then?" he asked with a sly smirk.

I had no response. I just stared until I heard Iker calling for me. He ran into view and came to an abrupt stop by my side panting. He began to inaudibly mumble until his face transformed into a mask of shock.

"You!" he growled, placing a hand on my lower back in a protective motion. The other man noticed and began to chuckle.

"She's good Iker, I'd keep my eyes...and my hands on that one" he smirked again before bolting for the wall and leaping over it in a way that I realised was anything but human.

Iker hung his head until I cupped his cheeks and forced him to look at me. "Was that Morfeo? I need to know Iker". He simply nodded before he ushered me back to the gate.

Medea was already there. The left arm of her shirt was torn and her arm was cut, the wound seeping. "It all went wrong Este!" she cried.

"What are you talking about?" I asked trying to somewhat calm her down. She broke down into a fit of sobs and Iker led me aside by the arm.

"Doyel was killed by a vampire who found her by the mausoleum, Sixta was close by and tried to help but he snapped her neck and drained them both, he fled with them before I could retrieve the bodies but I'm certain that they were too far gone to turn", he explained.

"If he were a newborn just out looking for a bite why would he take the bodies?" I inquired.

"That question Esterina is what sets you apart. You really are something special" we walked back over to Medea who seemed to have regained control of her sobs, "now girls, let's go and back up the others".


	4. Chapter 4

Esterina – Chapter Four

The second group were waiting by the gate of the graveyard that they'd been instructed to cover. Amancay, Nontue and one of the girls that I realised was from the last group were there. I silently prayed that everyone was okay, I realised that Aracelia wasn't there and the idea of her being a vampire snack didn't seem so bad.

We all spun towards the gate as we heard a crash. It was Aracelia. She'd been stood on top of one of the mausoleums before she had flipped off of it onto the back of a seemingly unaware vampire.

She plunged her stake into his heart and he burst into ashes. She dusted herself off after landing on her feet. She then strode over to Iker, giving him a look that I didn't like. She'd shown off. That vampire had been cornered. I think I'd prefer it if we went back to the 'one girl in all the world' days. That one either being me or someone far far away. I didn't want my old life back but I did want my sister.

I couldn't stand the way that Iker was looking at Aracelia; with longing. I knew that I might regret straying from the group later but as the tears began to well in and sting my eyes, I felt that I had no choice. I headed off into the graveyard and wandered past a thicket of bushes.

The graveyard was still and quiet; I preferred it less so. I was almost itching for a fight. What I'd do if I crossed a female vampire...

I weaved my way around the tombstones, paying no real close attention to the names, everybody dies. I gazed up at the milky-white moon which was shrouded by a thick blanket of clouds. The only other light came from a candle burning on the grassy mound of some deceased loved one. I pulled my stake out as a precaution and gripped it in my right hand, I was sure to give myself splinters. My knuckles turned white as I stared at the sharpened piece of wood in my grip, my only thing to rely on. I didn't want to like Iker anymore, it was just a crush.

I could feel that I was being watched. It's handy to just know things like that. I wiped my eyes on the sleeve of my shirt, unwilling to let whatever monsters were lurking see me cry.

"Human emotion, it's a funny thing" Morfeo said as he stepped from the shadows. The graveyard was so densely populated by mausoleums that I couldn't see the others anymore. Who would look for any of us? We were all runaways now.

"What would you know?" I snapped back.

Just as he was searching for a response a fresh grave burst into a shower of dirt to the right of us, although the dirt did not reach us. Morfeo gazed almost fondly upon the newborn vampire. She resembled Noralí. A lump formed in my throat as the vampire lunged at me. I forced myself to react. It couldn't be Noralí. I imagined her lying in a shallow unmarked grave somewhere. Even if she had been found, there would have been no formal burial. I couldn't bring myself to drag out the fight even a little. The vampire girl ran easily onto the pointy end of my stake and Morfeo didn't get a chance to see what I could do. The new vampire's eyes widened and dilated in shock as it disintegrated into a pile at my feet.

"What do you want?" I asked as I turned my attention back to Morfeo.

"Such an interesting question Esterina...so many possible answers" he replied in a mocking tone.

A cocky smirk twisted the shape of his lips as he strode closer, stopping a few feet away from me. He reached a hand out and caressed my left cheek with his cold-calloused hand, "what do you want?"

He forced my chin upward and I looked into his eyes briefly. "Why the tears?" he pressed. My breath caught in my throat and tears welled in my eyes once more, I let them break free and they began to roll down my face.

It was all about possession; my sister was gone, my mother and now I could not posses or be possessed by someone whom I thought could cure the ache or at least plug the hole left by the two most important women in my life.

His hand which had been on my cheek found itself twisted into the curly ends of my hair as he took another step forward. His chest was against mine, still and frozen as my own heaved and I blew warm air lightly onto his face. He pushed his body flush against mine and gripped my hip tightly with his free hand. My eyes fluttered closes and I held my breath. Silently I said goodbye, to whom I don't know. All I had loved were dead and I soon would be too. Noralí, I and our mother would soon be re-united again. I knew it.

Another tear fell, onto my collar bone this time. Our noses brushed as he bent his head and lowered it to my neck. This is it.

His lips pressed against my skin, the tear replaced by the feeling of his soft lips. He moved to the tender flesh at the side of my neck and the vein that it encased throbbed violently as my pulse increased.

My grip on my stake hadn't lessened until that second. It fell from my grasp onto the floor and rolled away from me.

His hold upon me was almost possessive although I was starting to think that I had misread his intentions. If this were just a fame that he was playing against Iker then I was happy to play along.

I brought a shaking hand up to his head and thrust my fingers into his thick black hair, combing my fingers through it lightly before grasping a handful. I brought his lips to mine with as much force as I could muster. I expected to hear a snarl and to have him spring apart from me as if I'd poured holy water over him, but no such reaction came. He began to move his lips slowly, working against mine.

I heard the crunch of leaves underfoot and the unmistakeable sound of Iker's shoes, they squeaked softly even when he was quietly approaching. Morfeo's grip on my hip tightened, I presumed that he'd heard Iker too.

I let Morfeo be the first to pull away. I didn't really feel like playing the victim, besides I had done nothing wrong. Not once had I been told that I wasn't allowed to kiss a vampire, I bet that other slayers do it all of the time.

"Come away now Esterina" Iker said coldly, eyeing Morfeo, "enough".

Morfeo spoke quietly into my ear , just quietly enough for only me to hear before he released me and I walked back over to the waiting watcher, "let me know when you give into your dark nature".

He was gone as quickly as he'd arrived and I was stunned. I had no idea what to say to Iker but he made it easy for me.

"we're both going to forget that this happened, we have to get back to Donna and the others now".

He looked at me in disgust, a look that I reciprocated.


	5. Chapter 5

Esterina – Chapter Five

"I'm not going back with you" I said solemnly. Iker and I hadn't even made it back to the others yet.

"Do you think that I'm going to let you go it alone? With peop-_things _like Morfeo lurking?"

I stopped in my tracks. "What if you don't have a choice? I never chose this organisation. Maybe one day I'll come back, but right now I need to find my sister".

"Have fun getting killed" he replied drily.

I gave him the finger as I strode away. I had no way of finding Noralí, I knew that. If Alucio were really dead but still walking around then he was my greatest lead, the last person I'd seen her with.

I headed south on the metro, watching the city zip past as I sat quietly alone. The city was full of freaks but I encountered none until I disembarked in the Southern part of the city. I presumed that the team working down in this area had already headed home to count their losses or tend to the wounded. It's a tiresome fight this one. We do what we can to survive.

Noralí and I were central girls, she'd disappeared there. I wasn't retracing the steps that we took that night. I was trying to think like a vampire. There was a dive bar that I'd heard about in passing. Full of vamps. Hopefully a place that Alucio liked to hang out.

The door was painted an eggshell colour and groaned as it opened. My lower abdomen stirred almost immediately. I wouldn't have needed that to tell me that the room was full of my natural enemies; enough of them had their game face on.

I headed straight to the bar. Wearing black out to patrol was certainly a benefit when it came to camouflaging myself, vampires love black right? I was surprised at first to hear that not all of them dressed like Gothic lolitas.

"What can I getcha? We just got O neg" the bartender offered. I leant across the bar to him in what I hoped was a somewhat sultry way and beckoned him closer. Luckily no one seemed to be paying me any attention.

"I need a little information on a- a boyfriend of mine, other than that I'll have a shot of tequila" I smiled and leant back away from the bartender and he nodded, hurrying to get me my shot.

He set the shot in front of me and I downed it quickly. He cleared his throat. "Ah yes, I was looking for a vampire, goes by the name of Alucio" the bartender nodded, "I need to know where he is".

"He's nested with some chick and a burly guy named Sebastian up by the Plaza Catalunya, that's all I know"

"Thank you" I smiled lightly as I slipped him a twenty euro note.

He didn't question my large tip. He must have been used to bribes. I could almost imagine Iker or maybe Donna beating the guy for information. He was just a guy trying to make a living, violence wasn't really necessary.

I looked around quickly, scouring the place for Alucio. Of course I'd only seen him once, at night when my vision wasn't exactly good. No such luck in the dive bar. Nothing of interest, I was just surrounded by over 30 vampires who could probably smell that I was human or hear the pounding of my heart.

"This is a dangerous neighbourhood for such a young woman to be lurking" I heard as I stepped out of the bar. I felt for the stake in my pocket with a sigh. As much as I enjoyed a fight, I didn't have much time to spare until sunrise.

"I'm looking for someone" I said as I turned to face the vampire.

"Is that someone me?" they asked, fangs bared.

I smirked, "Nope".

"Are you sure about that?" they snarled.

"Pretty sure" I said with a shrug as I side stepped them and spun, sinking my stake into their back before they could turn to face me, "sorry".


End file.
